Fluid flow control device



Oct. 12|, 1943. D..H ANNIN FLUIDFLOW CONTROL DEV\ICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 4, 194g freeway oct. 12, 1943.

D. H. ANNIN I2,331,291

FLUID FLow CONTROL DEVICE y 3 Shets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 4, 1942 lll/lll lll 'F'llE-l':l

INVENTOR. Doug/as H. Ann/f7 oen 12,` 1943.

D. H. ANNIN FLUID FLOW CONTROL DEVICE Filed Nqv. 4, 1942 y 3 `Sl'xeets-Sheet 5 /llllll F'IIE .ILE

INVENTOR. 0ug/a5 b. 4f-mn .BY 49.177

' Arroz/VFY PafePted Qcti 1,1 2;; 19431 consisting. of Marvin H. i y Grove, both of Piedmont,

Grove and Julia E. Calif.

Application November 4.1.1942, serial No. 464,496 I (01. 137-139) 5 Claims.

This invention relates generally to valves or like devices for controlling the flow of various It is an object of the inventionto improve upon the expansible tube type. ofvalve or flow control device disclosed in co-pending application Sen No. 460,091, filed Sept.' 29, 1942, lparticularly with respect to ,eliminating or largely minimizingV chattering during opening and closing operations at relatively low inow pressures. y

Further objects ofthe invention willappear' fromthe following description in which the pre- ,irred embodimenthasbeen ysetfortlfi in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.`

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view, in quartersection, showing a valve incorporating the present invention. I v

Figure 2 is a view like AFigure 1, but showing a difieren-t type of control arrangement for the y Valve.

ing over a wide range of inflow pressures, such as from 30 to 200 lbs. per square inch.

In operating the valve described above it has been`found that with inow pressures substantially below 30 lbs. per square inch,as for example from 10 to 20 lbs: per square inch, a considerable amount of chattering or uttering is experienced. f

In commercial installations encountering such -low pressures, chattering vis undesirable in that vit may place strains upon associated ,piping and equipment and tends to cause undue wear or mechanical disintegration of the rubber "tube,

either to eliminate or to minimize the The present invention serves such chattering or utteri'ng same to such an extent that it'isn'o'longer harm' I' ,ful or dangerous. In general my improved valve' provides certain restricted flow passages in con@ )junction `with the barrier, andwhich occasion a .different'type of closing action to eliminate or Figures 3 to 12, inclusive, are cross-sectional f details, showing various positions assumed by the expansible tube in effecting closing and opening operations.

Figure 113 is a cross-sectional detail .showing another embodiment of the invention.l

The valve disclosed'in co-pending-application Serial No. 460,091 makes use of a. body having inow and outflow passages, with a tubeof resil'- ient' rubber or like material disposed within the body and having its ends sealed with respect to the body about the passages. A circularly con-A toured barrier'is disposed within the tube Aintermediate the ends of the same, and this barrier has a peripheral'surface upon which the tube may engage and seal. Slotted grid portions extend from the opposite sides of the barrier and form abutments against inward collapsing of the tube. A fluid chamber is formed about the tube, and by introducing fluid under pressure into this chamber, or by venting fluid from the same, the tube assumes closed or open positions with respect to the barrier.

In one particular embodiment disclosed in said application Serial No. 460,091; the liquid pressure is taken from the vinflow side for application to the chamber about the expansible'tube. A particular feature of the valve in said co-pending application is the fact that the annular clearance about the barrier for full open position of the expansible tube is proportioned to be from about '1/0 to 1/2 the diameter of the barrier. This serves to prevent chattering or uttering when operatlargely minimize unstable' conditions causing chattering. 'l f` vReferring to Figure 1 of the drawings, the device illustrated consists ofja body I0, which is formed to provide fluid passages II and I2. It is` piping to a source of liquid under pressure, such as a centrifugal pump orl gravity pressuretank', whileoutlet I2 ldischarges to the atmosphere or is connected is connected by,

by piping to' a low pressure system. f

within the bedy there is en expensibie tutey la i I formed of relatively, resilient material such. as soft vulcanized rubber, or equivalent Synthetic mate- -rial like .Buna Hycar. 'Ihe tubej'is preferably cylindrical and has integral outturnedl and inizurned anges I4 and I 6 respectively.

Within the tube I3 there is a barrier I1 which is circularly contoured, and which has a peripheral surface I8 that is relatively smooth and adapted to effect a seal with lrespect to the adjacent portion of. the expansibletu'be. To retain barrier I1 in proper ends of tube I3, and to prevent inward collapsing oi the tube,v the abutment grids I9 and 2l are provided., These grids can be conveniently made integral with the barrier I'I, and as illustrated they are formed of circumferentially spaced ribs 22 and 23,l whereby Huid may flow through the slots 24 and 26 between these ribs. The end portions of the grids include the annular ring portions 21 and 2B. Ring portion 21 provides an annular face 29 opposed to the annular shoulder 3l formed on the body, whereby the flange I 6 can -be squeezed between these faces to provide the desired seal. Ring portion 28 has its end face 32 engaged by a shoulder 33f formed on the sepa.

position intermediate the rate body part 34. Body the main body by suitable means such as bolts 35 engaging the adjacent flanges 36 and 31. It can be in the form of a flange coupling as illustrated for making connection to outflow piping.

In order to seal flange I4 with respect to the body, it is clamped between an annular shoulder 38 formed on the body, and the annular surface 39 formed on body part 34. It is desirable to form the peripheral surface I8 of barrier I1 to a diameter slightly larger than that of the grids I9 and 2 I, to facilitate machining.

About the tube I3 the body is formed to provide a closed annular fluid chamber 4I. The wall Illa of body III, which forms the outer wall of chamber 4 I, is annular in cross-section and has its surface so disposed as to form an abutment to limit expansion of tube I3.

Assuming that the device isto be used to control ilow of liquid, such chemical solutions, oil, or the like, with the inflow pressure being applied to the chamber 4I, connections can be made either as shown in Figures 1 or 2. In Figure l a pipe 43 connects with the body and is in communication with chamber 4I through the restricted oriiice 42. Another pipe 44 connects to the inflow side of the body, and is associated with pipe 43 through the control valve 46. By operating control valve 46, pipes 43 and 44 can either be placed directly in communication, or communication with pipe 44 can be interrupted while pipe 43 is connected to the venting pipe 41.

In the arrangement of Figure 2 pipe 44 is shown provided with a screen 48 and a restricted controlling orifice 49. Beyond orifice 49 the pipes 43 and 44 are connected together, and pipe 43 part 34 is clamped to may be vented to the atmosphere by opening the control valve I With the arrangement of Figure 1 operating the control valve 46 between open and closed positions serves to either apply inflow liquid pressure to the chamber 4I, to cause a closing operation, or to vent chamber 4I to cause an opening operation. The same net effect is obtained by the arrangement of Figure 2, except that in this instance a small amount of liquid is continuously bled through the control valve 5I while the main valve remains closed.

In order to eliminate chattering over an operating range such as from 30 to 200 lbs. per square inch,` the clearance about the periphery of the barrier, for full open position` of the valve, is made relatively small compared to the barrier diameter. For example in actual practice this clearance is from V to 1/2 the diameter of the barrier. Substantially greater clearances can be used, such as e the diameter of the barrier, but ratios as great as the diameter of the barrier cause severe pulsations or chattering within the pressure range indicated.

Assuming a clearance proportioned to prevent pulsations within a pressure range of from say to 200 lbs. per square inch, if the inflow pressure should drop to substantially lower values, as for example to from 10 to 20 lbs. per square inch, chattering is again experienced during opening and closing operations.

According to the present invention chattering' at the lower inflow pressures is prevented or largely minimized by providing the periphery of the barrier with a plurality of circumferentially spaced openings 53. These openings are proportioned to afford-in aggregate a relatively small cross-sectional flow area compared to the total as water, salt water,

flow area about the barrier when the tube is fully expanded. Also they are located in such a manner as to be intermediatethe end edges of the barrier periphery.

With the openings described above it has been found that the valve has a double closing action, in that the expansible tube iirst closes with respect to flow through the inflow slots 26, and then finally closes with respect to flow through the openings 53. A better understanding of this action can be had by. reference to Figures 3 to l2, inclusive. Figure 3 shows the position of the tube I3 when the chamber 4I is vented to the at- Inosphere, or in other Words full open position of the valve. At this time maximum flow occurs through the annular orifice between the tube I3 and the periphery of the barrier. Assume now that liquid at inflow pressure is introduced through the orifice 42, as by operating the con trol valve 46 in the manner previously described.

As this liquid flows into the chamber 4I, it ini' tially commences to collapse the tube I3 `around the outflow grid, substantially as indicated ln Fig. 4. As this collapsing continues there is a progressive reduction in flow through the slots 24 between the ribs 22. Figure 5 shows the tube nearly completely collapsed upon the outow grid. Finally the tube collapses to a point where it seals upon the adjacent peripheral edge of the barrier, substantially as shown in Figure 6. At vthis point all flow of liquid through the slots 24 is cut off, but a small amount of ow still continues through the openings 53.

The action of the tube now changes, and with further flow of liquid into the chamber 4I, the collapsing action proceeds on the inflow side of the valve substantially as indicated in Figure 7. As the tube on the inflow side of the barrier continues to collapse away from the outer wall IDa. substantially as indicated in Figure 8, it reaches a point substantially in engagement with the ribs 23 as indicated in Figure 9. During progression between Figures 6 and 9 there is substantially no closing off of the openings 53. When the position shown in Figure 9 is reached there is virtually a bulge in the resilient tube entirely about the periphery of the barrier, and to carry out the final closing action the bulge disappears as the tube in the vicinity of the barrier assumes fully collapsed condition. During collapsing oi the bulge there is a final cut oir of flow through the openings 53. The extent of the bulge depends upon the operating pressures and other operating conditions. Irrespective of the exact sequence between collapsing of the' tube against the ribs on the inflow side, the final closing off orifice 42 causes opening of the tube substantially as indicated in Figs. II and I2. Initially the inow end portion of the tube I3 expands substantially as shown in Fig. 1l. As further liquid is vented from chamber 4|, the tube peels away from the periphery of the barrier to substantially the position shown in Fig. 12, where flow may occur through the openings 53. Expansion of the tube then continues to the outflow side until full open position is reached such as shown in Fig. 3.

the

y u "With respect to opeiings-53g0odresults were" tired by drilling lilhole'se f`if of an inch.

"Example u. Flor agjffl/j ,y lve the barrier vwas6%:inches in `diametei",and fginches wide atyits-periphery. Theclearaii iboutlthe barrieriwas` 'ofanlnclmVY The inlow and outow grids'""were provided with. 32 sl'otsgreach having a width of s1; Qfaninch, fand"a`,ile`r"1gthV of 25% of an'inchq4 The tube had alwallfthic'kness of 1% of an inch. Good resultsweresecured by using 16 holes (53), keach having a 'diameteriof 0.128 inch.

Example IIL-,For 9.61/2 inchvalve the barrier had a diameter ,of 9% inches, lwith a width at its periphery of 2%; inches;y {Ilie clearance about the periphery of the barrier lwas The inow and outflow grids were .each .provided with 36 slots each slot beingl '5% wideg'and 35% long. The tubey had a wallthicknessofgtof an inch. With respect to the holes '53 18; were drilled about'V the 'periphery of tlieb rier with each holehavingadiameterof 0.169.\ l

Example IV.I-For a 10 inc h valve'the barrier hada diameter of l5 inches, -and a' width at its periphery of 33%. `The clearance :about the pe-A riphery ofthe barrierwasdlrv of;l an inch. .The inflow and outow grids wereeachprovided with 44 slots,.with each slot being `tbiofan inch wide f and 5% inches long.` yTheresilientftube had a wall thicknesof 1%; ofv an the holes 53, 22 were.,4 drilled in the periphery of the barrier, with each hole having a diameter of v It should be understood that one need not adhere 'to the precise dimensions given in the foregoing-examples. In general the ow area aorded by the openings 53 must be a minor fraction of the flow area alforded by the annular orice about the barrier'for full openl position of the valve. 'I'hus in the foregoing' examples the .ratio between the aggregate cross-'sectional flow area afforded by openings 53, and the flow area afforded about the barrier for full open position for the valve, is of the order of 1 to 35.

' In addition to eliminating or minimizing chattering at low pressures. it has been found that the arrangement described makes possible a inch ."'With respect to b` had a wail y same and having'a l lrestricted passages somewhat greater latitude in' proportioning the clearance about the barrier, particularly for valves of the larger sizesranging from 6 inches and up. More specifically the clearance about the barrier can safely be madesomewhat greater Without chattering for the higher-pressures, than would be possible without theop'enings 53. It should -be understood however that relatively large ratios between clearance and barrier diameter of the order of 1 to 10 will result inv chattering irrespective of openings 53. In the present invention ratios of the order of 1 to 16 can be used but the preferred proportioning employs ratios of the order of 1 to 20 to 1 to 22.

In the embodiment of Figure 13 a plurality of circumferentially spaced grooves 53a are provided in place of the holes 53. 'I'hese grooves are proportioned to ail'ordrestricted passages corresponding in flow 'capacity to the holes 53,

sages, a circ-ularly and are closed off by the expansible tube in sub'- sytantia'lly the same. manner .as .gpreviouslyfdescm v I claim:

1. In a Aowcontroldevice,a'bodyhaving*inow and outflow passages ,for

vflow of iluid, xa, tube-,of

resilient material disposed within the, bodyg; and

is adapted to engage.' and seal, f and grids -d'isportions: ofthe tubev on j posed within the end opposite sides of the barrier toA prevent inward collapsing of the tube, means forming a-,closedv annular iluid chamber about thevtube, there being a duct communicating 'with the chamberfor` applying a controlling contoured barrier disposed within the ltube vintermediate the ends ofthe diameter greater than kthe diameter of the passages, said barrier providing an annular peripheral',portion.havingy an outer peripheral surfacel `f 4 substantial widthv against vlar iluid chamber about the tube, there being a duct communicating with x the chamber for applying` a controlling fluid under pressure, and

in said annular portion serving to establish communication between the outflow passages andthe region immediatelyvsurrounding the periphery of the barrier atpoints intermediate the inilowand outlow edges of the same. Y

3.' Ina now control device, .a body having in-f ow and outflow passages for ow of fluid, a tube ofv relatively resilient through an'annular orice about the periphery of the barrier, said last means including an anmaterial disposed within rthe bodyand having its ends sealed with respect nular abutment wall surrounding the tube in the regin o1.' the bar-rier, the clearance between the outer surface of the tube and said abutment wall, when the tube is engaged with the periphery of the barrier, being of the order of from about to 1&2 of the diameter of the barrier, and restricted flow passages formed in said annular portion of the barrier, said passages communieating between the outow passage andA the region immediately surrounding the peripheral surface of the barrier at points located intermediate the inflow and outflow end edges of the barrier, said last named passages affording an aggregate cross-sectional flow area which is a minor fraction of the cross-sectional ilow area afforded by said clearance.

4. In a flow control device, a body having inflow a'nd outow passages for ilow of liquid, a tube of resilient material disposed within the body and having its ends sealed with respect to the body about the passages, a circularly contoured barrier disposed within the sleeve intermediate the ends of the same, the barrier having an outer annular portion aordinga peripheral surface of substantial width against which the adjacent annular portion of the tube is adapted to engage and seal, grid means disposed within the end portions of the tube on opposite sides of the barrier to prevent inward collapsing of the tube, and a plurality of small circumferentially spaced holes formed in said annular portion of the barrier, the inner ends of said holes communicating with the outow passage and the outer ends of said holes communicating. with the region surrounding the outer periphery of the barrier at points intermediate the inow and outflow edges of the barrier.

5. In a iiow control device, a, body having inflow and outflow passages for flow of fluid, a

body of resilient material disposed within the body and having its ends sealed with respect to the body about the passages, a circularly contoured barrier disposed within the sleeve intermediate the ends of the same, the barrier having an outer annular portion affording a peripheral surface of substantial width against which the adjacent annular portion of the tube is adapted to engage and seal, grid means disposed within the end portions of the tube on opposite sides of the barrier to prevent inward collapsing of the tube, said grid means including spaced ribs separated by circumferentially spaced elongated slots, means forming a closed annular iluid chamber about the tube, there being a duct communicating with the chamber for applying a controlling fluid under pressure whereby the tube can be caused to either seal upon the periphery of the barrier or can be permitted to expand to permit iiow of iluid between said passages and through an annular orifice about the periphery of the barrier, said last means including an annular abutment wall surrounding the tube in the region of the barrier, the clearance between the outer surface of the tube and said abutment wall, when the tube is engaged with the periphery of the barrier, being of the order of from about 11a to 1&0 of the diameter of the barrier, and a plurality of circurnferentially spaced holes in said annular portion of the barrier, the inner ends of said holes communicating with said outflow passage and the outer ends of said holes communicating with the region immediately surrounding the barrier at points intermediate the inilow and outflow edges of the barrier, the aggregate cross-sectional area afforded by said holes being a minor fraction of the cross-sectional ow area afforded by said clearance.

DOUGLAS H. ANNIN. 

